The Whole Truth
by Noxbait
Summary: Set during Threads; but before they go to Jack's cabin. In the aftermath of Jacob's death and Daniel's return from the Ascended Cafe, Jack realizes that Daniel has been keeping things from them. Again.


Jack was almost finished preparing breakfast when it happened. Everyone had been up late, as usual, and fallen asleep in varying places in the living room. Teal'c had been up first, again as usual, and had kindly started the coffee. He had joined Teal'c in the kitchen and started breakfast, Sam making her way out shortly after. After she had finished her first cup of coffee, Sam had headed out to the living room to rouse Daniel from the couch where he was still sleeping. Jack wasn't surprised. For some reason, Daniel had been drinking rather heavily the previous evening. That had been a source of concern, but he hadn't delved into it so far. Jack was glancing out at the living room when it happened.

Sam had just given Daniel's shoulder a shake. She called his name a couple times and then gave him another shake. That was when he woke up. Abruptly. What was more disconcerting was that he came awake swinging and shouting.

"No, get away from me!" He shouted, sitting straight up and swinging a fist.

Sam had excellent reflexes, though, and jumped back, shock on her face. "Daniel! It's ok!"

Jack was already moving into the room, seeing the terror on Daniel's face as he stood up and stumbled away from Sam. He was still shouting, "Get away from me! You just stay away from me!"

"Daniel!" Sam said a bit more softly, a frown and confusion on her face. She watched in shock as he stumbled out the front door, right past the Colonel. "Sir, I don't know what...why.."

"It's ok, Carter. Let me check on him." Jack said as he headed for the door.

Sam nodded, but remained unsettled and concerned. It wasn't the first time that he'd had a nightmare; far from it. They all had experienced nightmares over the years, it wasn't a secret, but this seemed different. Worse somehow. Sam bit her lip as she considered. He had looked like he was afraid. _Of her_. Afraid of her.

* * *

Jack hadn't been expecting anything quite so dramatic when he'd sent Sam out to wake Daniel. Sure, he wasn't exactly a morning person, but he didn't usually react in such a shocked manner. Obviously he'd been having a nightmare. It had been awhile since he'd experienced anything so terrifying, though. Pausing on the porch, Jack glanced around wondering where Daniel had disappeared. He had been in a hurry, that was for sure. Frowning, Jack glanced to his left when he heard the sound of retching.

Hurrying down the walkway, Jack was surprised to find Daniel on his knees in front of the bushes. By the time he got to his side, Daniel had sat back against the side of the garage, pale as a ghost, breathing raggedly and shaking all over. Jack crouched down in front of him, his concern ratcheting up a notch. This had been a bad one, that was for sure. He eased himself down and leaned back against a tree and waited. After all these years, Daniel knew he could wait a long time. And would.

This time it only took a couple minutes before Daniel spoke. "Sorry."

"Well, I knew you didn't like mornings, but this _was_ a bit extreme. Even for you." It didn't get him a smile. Jack frowned, "What's going on?"

"Just a nightmare."

"Yeah. Got that. Anything interesting?" Jack realized this was not the time for jokes when a tear rolled down Daniel's cheek and he abruptly pressed his fists to his eyes. Jack considered the situation. It had been a rough few weeks. The end of the world almost happened, again, Daniel was killed (again), Jacob Carter died and only now was life slowly getting back to normal. _Slowly_. This was their first team night since before all the craziness had started. Sam was just beginning to seem more like herself; although she was a lot more teary than he had ever seen her. But it was getting better.

Daniel's heavy drinking the night before had been the first red flag to Jack that maybe there was a bit to be worried about after all. Having been killed aboard a Replicator ship would be enough to mess with anyone's mind, Jack decided. It had been a rough few days as they had all muddled through the aftermath of the battle, dealt with Jacob's passing and waited and wondered where Daniel was. After the debriefing, Jack had thought that he was ok, that the trauma hadn't been so significant.

Apparently he had been wrong. Very wrong. From the looks of Daniel right at this moment, Jack was getting the feeling that the trauma was much more significant than anyone had at first realized. He thought back to the debriefing. Daniel had mentioned he had been on the Replicator ship when it had blown up; snatched up by Oma and spending the rest of the time in what sounded to Jack to be a bit of a hazy crazy Ascended summit in a trippy diner. Yeah, it had been bad. No doubt about that. Daniel had made passing mention that he'd been dueling it out with good old mutant Carter, the human form replicator. He had mentioned that he'd been able to get into her head a bit and confirmed that he had been the one to freeze the replicators. Jack was starting to get very suspicious that there was a lot more to what had happened on that ship than what Daniel had told them _officially_.

After a few more minutes, Daniel took a deep breath and pushed his head up, letting it fall back against the wall. He looked awful, but calmer. For a moment they just stared at each other. Jack was waiting for Daniel to open the floor again.

"I was just startled."

_Lame._ Jack shook his head and remained silent.

"I've been having some trouble sleeping." Daniel tried again. "A few flashbacks..."

Silence dragged on for several moments. Jack stared at the trees and tried to hold his tongue. Daniel was so still, so quiet it was almost frightening. When he had sat down, Jack really hadn't expected him to remain quiet so long. When Daniel was quiet like this, it almost never was a good thing. Running back through everything that had happened, Jack felt a growing premonition that he knew exactly what had occurred on that Replicator ship. It made sense, made an awful kind of sense that left him sick to his stomach. It was the only thing that made sense, actually, and Jack felt old. He should have seen it, should have realized it a long time ago. He turned and studied Daniel.

"She killed you, didn't she?"

Jack's soft voice seemed loud in the quiet of the back yard. Daniel had flinched when he'd spoken. That was all the answer Jack needed. He sighed and said gently, "Daniel. Why don't you tell us these things?"

"I don't want her to know. She just lost her dad. She doesn't need to know." Daniel said quietly, "It's not like I'm afraid of her or anything. I don't look at Sam and see her..._it_."

"But you are having nightmares."

"Oh, yeah."

"How often."

"Every time I close my eyes."

"Daniel..."

"It really wasn't the worst way to go, I guess." Daniel interrupted with a shrug, eyes blank. "I've got a unique frame of reference, I suppose. It was quick. She, _it, _just ran me through with her arm, her arm that was a sword. It was more shocking than anything. So quick I barely felt it."

From the way he tripped over all the words, Jack knew it had been every kind of awful. _Killed by a monster wearing a friend's face_. And alone, far from friends, far from Earth. "I'm sorry."

Daniel forced a smile, "Thanks. But it's a thing of the past now."

"No it isn't."

"I just need..." he took a deep breath, "A bit more time. I don't want Sam to know."

"Daniel."

"She doesn't need to know. Not ever. She just lost her dad."

"Yes, I notice you keep bringing that up. She also lost a friend. Again. I refused to believe you were gone, but you _were_ gone. Again. She's been torn up about you too; not just about Jacob. You died and none of us would ever have known what happened to you."

"But Oma..."

"But Oma nothing." Jack raised a finger to stop him from interrupting again, "Daniel, she was worried about you and she lost her dad. But she's still gonna know somethings not right. She knows it now! The way you jumped in there, I'm betting she's figured the whole thing out. Carter's smarter than I am and even I figured it out."

"Well, if she figured it out, fine, but we don't have to talk about it." Daniel said sharply, lowering his head to his hands. He didn't want to talk about it with Sam, didn't want to be talking about it now. Wished he could just forget about the entire situation.

"It's gonna take time."

"Stop reading my mind."

"What? Private property or something?"

"Yes."

"You read mine all the time. It's only fair."

"What am I thinking right now?"

"Tsk." Jack frowned, "So rude, Daniel, so rude." That got him a half-hearted laugh which was what he was hoping for. Jack leaned forward and clapped Daniel on the shoulder, "So."

Daniel forced his head up; exhaustion making it feel so heavy. "So."

"What am I thinking?"

"You're thinking that we better get back in there before Teal'c eats all the cinnamon rolls."

Jack stood up and reached a hand out to pull Daniel to his feet. "You're good, I'll give ya that."

"Years of practice."

"Gonna talk to Sam, right?"

"Yes, Jack. I'll talk to Sam. But after the cinnamon rolls."

Jack grinned, "My thought exactly!"


End file.
